Social networking sites like Myspace and Facebook are about to face their biggest competition since listing. These two sites alone have dominated the industry of people who like interacting online with friends and associates, and Friendswin combines all the typical social networking features of these sites with new additions such as video conferencing, video dating and video resumes, plus a business opportunity with compensation plan for those entrepreneurial types.

With these extra services, Friendswin have opened up the market to not only those people wanting to socialise and chat with friends for fun, but also for business professionals and small business owners who need video conferencing facilities to communicate with collegues interstate, or internationally. This would have great applications for sales teams that are on the road a lot and for any business that requires its staff to be out in the field. Individuals using this service would be able to see all the other members of the group on screen at the same time, in real time. All that would be needed is a webcam and microphone for their laptops (standard on most new laptops these days) and an Internet connection. Keeping in touch with the team and with clients to share ideas and opportunities has never been easier.


Another area that sets this company apart is the Video Resumes service. Here, they are creating a new type of job network with spoken word videos introducing the job seeker and talking about themselves. Exposure has always been the key with job hunting and by putting up a detailed resume and video message introduction on the Friendswin network, it gets circulation and visibility from employers also using the service, as well as the many other hundreds of thousands of networks that are created in this environment.

“Craig Silverman, a recruiter at HireAbility.com, a recruiting-services company based in Salem, N.H., recently was seeking a sales candidate for one of his clients. Instead of turning to a large online resume bank such as Monster.com, he posted the job on one of the many networking sites he has joined.” Careerjournal.com, March 30, 2005

It’s a more personal way of contacting potential employers and business partners and employers will also have the ability to even interview the candidates via the video conferencing service integrated into the site. All round, this service will open up these networking sites to a wider potential audience with applications in many industries.

Online dating has also been covered for those folks looking for love in cyberspace. Video Dating and matchmaking sites are nothing new, however, the Friendswin service uses a high tech interface for couples to share video and speak to each other online before deciding whether to meet. Again, this is simply another extension to another industry using the same tools as described previously. Friendswin offers its members many choices in terms of how they portray themselves to the world.

On October 1st, Friendswin opened its doors to what they are calling IMRs, or Independent Marketing Reps. These are the people who will not only form the first group of friends for the social networks, but also those who are driving the traffic and spreading the word about the site. Already, there are over 15,000 registered IMRs. They are offered a generous compensation plan for bringing in paid members who in turn bring in other paid members, and so on. The advantage here is that by getting in at the launch of this kind of site, and judging from the success of Myspace and others, networks can form very quickly and these IMRs will be profiting from the huge numbers of people who join after them. Anyone can become an IMR before December 31st 2007 for no cost. However, in 2008 they are planning on charging an admin fee for new IMRs.

Business opportunity, video conferencing, video dating, social networking, video resumes, plus all the music, video, chatrooms, forums, instant messenger, blogs, and mail services that you’ve come to expect from social networking sites. Friendswin is combining the best of breed technology in an industry that just seems to be growing from strength to strength. There’s no telling what will emerge in the future for these sites, as they are user controlled and continually evolving. Social networking technology is here to stay, and is driving the growth of the global village, making the world a very small place indeed.

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